'Kerala will lose 6 seats, Tamil Nadu 9 seats, Telangana and Karnataka 2 seats each, Andhra Pradesh 5 seats.'
Facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice required to fulfil its poll guarantee, the state government on Wednesday decided to pay cash into the beneficiaries' accounts at the rate of Rs 34 per kilo, for the additional 5kg of rice under the free rice scheme.
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread -- their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles.
Bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra have been suspended following attacks on buses and their crew. The decision was taken given the tension prevailing in the border district of Belagavi over a sensitive issue. The language row began after a group of people allegedly intercepted a KSRTC bus and assaulted its conductor and driver for not speaking to a passenger in Marathi. The passenger, a minor girl, also filed a complaint stating that the conductor misbehaved with her. However, the family of the minor girl has decided to withdraw the case and urged people to stop escalating the matter into a language dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
India is expected to experience hotter-than-usual temperatures from April to June, with more heatwave days in central and eastern India and the northwestern plains, the IMD said. Most parts of the country will see higher-than-normal maximum temperatures, except for some areas in western and eastern India where the temperatures are expected to be normal. Minimum temperatures will also be above normal in most regions. The IMD has warned that landslides could occur in parts of Kerala and Karnataka in the Western Ghats and that northeastern states might face flooding in April.
Sniping at the BJP senior leadership has reached a new high in Karnataka. For the moment, there is a truce, but the party knows the damage it could do ahead of the polls.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said he has been asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership not to contest the May 10 assembly elections, to which he has informed the party top brass of his displeasure with the decision.
AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami is under pressure from his party as his unclear stand on the BJP alliance has brought back fears among party workers that the party may lose its identity, be forced into an unwanted coalition, and be taken over by the BJP later, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Skymet expects a good monsoon over western and southern India.
At least six people were killed and 30 injured in a stampede during a temple festival in North Goa, India. The incident occurred at the Sree Lairai Devi temple in Shirgao village, around 40 km from Panaji, as thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes to the temple for the annual festival.
A track curvature is being investigated as a possible factor in the fatal train accident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, where 12 passengers were killed after jumping off a train due to a fire rumour. The Karnataka Express train, which ran over the passengers, had its visibility and braking distance affected by the curvature, according to railway officials. The incident occurred when passengers on the Lucknow-CSMT Pushpak Express jumped onto the tracks after fearing a fire, only to be hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express.
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
It was a memorable day for Karnataka on Thursday as the shiny new Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee at Halga-Bastawad on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway, 15 km from Belgaum.
Young Delhi all-rounder Harshit Rana showed his all-round prowess as North Zone finished the opening day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone.
At least 12 passengers were killed when they jumped from the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express in panic after sparks flew from the wheels when brakes were applied near Pachora in Jalgaon district. The passengers who jumped on the tracks were run over by a fast train. The incident occurred after the train passed the Jalgaon station and was nearing Pachora in the afternoon. Passengers saw sparks flying from the wheels of the train when brakes were applied, prompting some to pull the emergency chain and jump down. Some passengers were run over by the Karnataka Express, which was passing at the time. The preliminary information suggests sparks and smoke inside one of the general coaches of Pushpak Express due to either `hot axle' or `brake-binding' (jamming).
One can only sincerely wish the Dalai Lama a very long life at the service of world peace. His presence is much required today on the planet, notes Claude Arpi, who has known His Holiness for more than half a century.
'Every Indian who is concerned about the unity, integrity and the map of India should be worried about this growing divide.'
Lingayats are said to constitute about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, and the community has dominance in as many as 100 out of total 224 constituencies, majority of these seats being in north Karnataka region.
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
'If delimitation is not handled well by the Centre, the southern states are certainly going to challenge it.'
He urged the Central government to take this matter seriously and come to their rescue immediately.
At least four out of the 13 persons killed in the Jalgaon train accident have been identified as hailing from Nepal, authorities said on Thursday.
The state is also the biggest market for TVS, another incumbent player, and together with Bajaj Auto, they accounted for 88 per cent of Maharashtra's total electric scooter sales last month. As many as 8,417 units were sold in Maharashtra in September. Bajaj Auto's contribution was 4,048 vehicles and that of TVS was 3,389, according to model- and state-wise data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
Boxing Federation of India (BFI) chief Ajay Singh will be up against secretary general Hemanta Kalita, vice-president Rajesh Bhandari, and Kerala State Amateur Boxing Association secretary D Chandralal when the BFI holds its long-awaited elections on March 28.
Former prime minister and Janata Dal (S) leader H D Deve Gowda will launch the first phase of his party's election campaign to the coming mid term-polls for the Karnataka Assembly in the first week of January next year.
There could be as many as five sleeper cells operating in Karnataka right now, with three of them concentrated in north India. Terror outfits prefer the northern part of the state due to security reasons.
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
About 58,000 police personnel are maintaining vigil on 12,389 polling stations in the districts of Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga,Bidar, Gadag, Dharwad and Haveri. Brisk voting was witnessed in parts of Gulbarga and Dharwad where people queued up to cast votes in the morning. However, the turnout was low in Bijapur and Bagalkot where only about nine per cent of votes had been polled.
The Congress in Karnataka got a shot in the arm with former state minister and JD-S leader Iqbal Ansari joining the party on Tuesday.
The netas have put on their thinking caps and day in and day out they seem to be planning their strategy to face the poll, which is round the corner in Karnataka.
Dharam Singh, the new CM, is known as a man with no enemies.
The crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit appears to be worsening. The latest development in ongoing power struggle is that the Reddy brothers led by Janardhan Reddy has left for Hyderabad with 15 MLAs in a bid to shield them from being wooed by the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's camp.
The best option to reduce farm distress in the state is that when the rains fail, the state -- the central and the state government -- provide a financial cushion for the farmer
The official count of the people who have left Karnataka stood at 29,635 and till the filing of this report some 2000-odd people are waiting at the Bengaluru railway station to leave the city.
Eyewitnesses told rediff.com that the slain farmer, Siddalingappa Chennappa Choori, was not in the mob when the incident occurred. The incident takes place two weeks after B S Yeddyurappa assumed office as Karnataka chief minister.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took charge as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, ending months of speculation about the change of guard in the state.
Some BJP leaders believe the issue is not about Yeddyurappa's moves to contain the mining interests of the Reddy brothers in Bellary. The Rajnath Singh camp, which is pitted in a bitter battle with the Advani camp, has been accusing former Union minister Ananth Kumar, who is close to Advani, of triggering the crisis.
Former Karnataka chief minister S R Bommai died in Bangalore on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 84.
